Potential Claims Against Unification Church Raise Questions About Its Ability to Pay Japanese Victims

By Shunpei Nakamura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:37 JST, March 5, 2026

With the Unification Church’s dissolution having been upheld by the Tokyo High Court, attention is shifting to whether the liquidation process will lead to full relief for victims who donated large sums of money.

The court said Wednesday that repeated and illegal soliciting of donations by the church was the result of excessive donation targets, which were meant to procure operating funds for the religious group’s headquarters in South Korea.

The group, which is formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, had ¥104.0 billion in assets at the end of fiscal 2024, according to the ruling. Some observers have suggested that victims who have yet to come forward could have made donations totaling more than ¥100 billion.

In Wednesday’s ruling, the high court said the church’s founder, Moon Sun Myung , and his wife, Han Hak Ja, had presented a plan to the group’s Japanese arm that led to donations being solicited illegally. The plan said that Japanese followers “should provide financial assistance for the countries of the world, even if they have to push their limits.” This striking comment differed from the wording in the Tokyo District Court ruling handed down in March 2025.

According to the latest ruling, donations from followers accounted for at least 97% of the church’s income. Before criticism of the church soared after the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022 by a man who held a grudge against Abe because of his ties to the group, the annual target for donations from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2022 ranged from ¥40.4 billion to ¥56 billion. Senior church officials pressed followers to reach these targets, and until fiscal 2021, the church raked in about 80% to 90% of the goal. From fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2022, between about ¥8.3 billion and ¥17.9 billion of this money was remitted overseas annually, with more than 90% being sent to South Korea.

One key difference between the district and high court rulings pertains to the damages arising from the church’s illegal practices. The lower court put damages at about ¥20.4 billion, but the high court adopted a more conservative approach by ruling that the figure “would be at least about ¥7.4 billion” when “restricted only to people who can definitely be recognized” as victims.

More victims possible

With the high court’s decision, the church will lose tax privileges, meaning it will no longer be exempt from paying corporate and fixed asset taxes. Senior church officials will all step down, and its assets will come under the management of a liquidator. If the church attempts to obstruct the investigation or conceal its assets, it may also be pursued for criminal and civil liability.

Moreover, the church must place announcements inviting claims three times in the government’s official gazette within two months. Followers who made donations will be able to file claims as creditors. Lawyer Hisashi Ito has been appointed as liquidator for the case. On Wednesday, Ito said he was considering setting the period during which claims could be filed at “one year, starting from May.”

It is unclear how much the claims will total. The Lawyers from Across Japan for the Victims of the Unification Church believes the damages suffered by “potential victims” who have yet to speak out could exceed ¥100 billion. “If we uncover the full extent of the harm caused, it could be comparable in size to the church’s assets,” lawyer Katsuomi Abe said.

Properties and buildings

The federation says it has 280 churches across Japan and owns 108 of these properties. The church also owns five cemeteries. These properties and buildings will be subject to the liquidation procedures. Any assets that remain after creditors are compensated will be handed over to an owner designated by the church, based on the Religious Corporations Law. The church has decided that such residual assets would belong to Tenchi Seikyo, a religious organization based in Obihiro, Hokkaido. However, the lawyers for the church’s victims insist Tenchi Seikyo is “an organization under the church’s umbrella,” and are calling for legislative measures that would prevent assets being transferred to it.

If the church has liabilities exceeding its assets, it will go bankrupt.